S' LAW. The term among pirates for inflicting thirty-nine lashes on
the bare back--forty save one.

MOSQUITO. A term applied to a gnat-like species of stinging insects,
found chiefly in low marshy places and the neighbourhood of rivers.

MOSQUITO FLEET. An assemblage of small craft.

MOSQUITO NET. A light curtain spread over a cot or bed in warm climates,
to protect the sleeper from mosquitoes.

MOSS-BONKER. The name given by American fishermen to the _hard-head_
(which see).

MOTHER CARY'S CHICKEN. The stormy petrel, _Procellaria pelagica_.

MOTHER CARY'S GOOSE. The name given by Captain Cook's people to an
oceanic brown bird, _Procellaria gigantea_, which Pernety calls
_Quebranta huesos_ (bone-breaker).

MOTHER-OF-PEARL. The iridescent nacreous inner layer of several species
of shells, especially the "pearl-oyster" (_Meleagrina margaritifera_).

MOTHERY [probably from the Dutch _m[oe]der_, mud]. Thick and mouldy;
generally applied to decomposing liquors.

MOTION. Change of place; it is termed _direct_, in the sky, when it is
in the direction of the earth's annual revolution; _retrograde_, when it
proceeds contrary to these conditions; by _sidereal_ is meant the motion
of a body with respect to the fixed stars.--_Tropical motion_ is the
movement of a body in respect to the equinox or tropic, which has itself
a slow motion among the stars, as shown under precession. (_See_ PROPER
MOTION.)--_Motion_, in mechanics, is either simple or compound, as one
or more powers are used. The momentum of a moving body, or quantity of
motion, arises from its velocity multiplied into the quantity of matter
it contains.

MOTION, CENTRE OF. That point of a body which remains at rest whilst all
the other parts are in motion about it: as the mathematical centre of a
revolving sphere.

MOTOR. The prime mover in machinery.

MOULDED. The size of the timber, the way the mould is laid; cut to the
mould.

MOULDED BREADTH. The measure of beam from outside to outside of the
timbers, without the thickness of the plank.

MOULDING DIMENSION. In ship-building, implies the depth or thickness of
any piece of timber.

MOULDING EDGE. That edge of a timber to which, in shaping it, the mould
is applied.

MOULDINGS OF A GUN. The several rings and ornaments.

MOULD-LOFT. A long building, on the floor of which the intended vessel
is laid off from the several draughts in full dimensions.

MOULDS. In naval architecture, are thin flexible pi